this week, we hear once again from molam saman hongsa & his fantastic group of isan entertainers! mr. saman, from ubon ratchathani, is one of the greats in the world of lam performers. he's known to some degree outside of thailand as the leader of the isan slété group, who recorded & toured through the u.k. in the late 80's. within thailand, however, he's probably best remembered for his string of comedy albums (one of which has been presented here). this tape, from 1992, features he & fellow molam puinoi uraiwong trying out the lam sing style. sing, originally an english loanword (racing) from motorbike culture, means hip or up-to-date. while integrating elements from modern pop (amps, drum-sets, risqué dance moves) the style preserves much of the overall context of lam tradition; vocal competition and battles of wordplay, male vs. female, performers vs. audience (though as you might predict, comedy and sexual innuendo take precendence over the didactic elements present in traditionalist lam). a dance mega-mix variety show.. enjoy!

the next couple days in thailand will be devoted to songkran, the solar new year's celebration! the holiday finds its most obvious expression through the throwing of water, with people of all ages running rampant through the streets with flowery shirts, buckets, squirt-guns & talc. but it's also a locus of merit-making throughout the kingdom, in particular the bathing of buddha images, and a time to return home and care for your elders. our cassette today features a general sampling of thai holiday songs from the suntharaphon band (songkran features on track 8), done in talung style. inspired by the captivating rhythms heard in the southern thai shadow puppet theatre, talung was one of several state-sponsored local responses to the international dance crazes sweeping thai popular culture mid-century. big band/big beats.. enjoy!

i'm heading south for the weekend, so i figured i'd leave you with some great old music from down there! i can't tell you a thing about our singer, although the songwriter is one whose name has shown up on a handful of cassettes in my collection; nakhon si thammarat's own phetthai thanomchit. to my ears, there's not anything markedly "southern" about the music here, aside from the percussive & funky arrangements that characterized the region's luk thung at that time. you'll also hear some examples of the "talking music" style pioneered by phloen phromdaen.. check out the sample song for an unreliable english lesson. enjoy!

enchanting songs of thailand

a collection of great music made by the people of thailand; luk thung, luk krung, molam, regional folk styles & more. mostly recorded from tape, sound quality should be pretty good (unless stated otherwise). transliteration is done using the royal thai general system of transcription. feedback/re-upload requests/etc. always appreciated!